“This is a well-crafted, beautifully written, and nicely organized book that seeks to take the task of qualitative social science methods—especially ethnographic methods in anthropology and sociology—to new levels of sophistication.”
— Sharon Kaufman, University of California, San Francisco
“In Abductive Analysis, Iddo Tavory and Stefan Timmermans make a case that the thought of pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce—specifically, his theories of hypothetical reasoning and semiotics—can be used to guide and improve qualitative research. Every qualitatively-minded sociologist should consider their strong, well-crafted argument.”
— Neil Gross, University of British Columbia
“In this ground-breaking book, Tavory and Timmermans open a new direction for qualitative inquiry that cuts across current internal divisions and debates. By reframing the logic and process of making sense of data within a pragmatic approach, they give new life to the craft of theorizing. Thoughtful and intellectually exciting, Abductive Analysis is both inspired and inspiring.”
— Diane Vaughan, Columbia University
“Thick description is no longer enough! Tacking back and forth from data to theorizing that data, thoughtful and systematic abduction enables the creative unfolding of a project, opening the researcher to precious moments of analytic surprise. Abductive Analysis is a major contribution to both the pragmatist renaissance and the transnational turn toward theorizing in qualitative research.”
— Adele Clarke, University of California, San Francisco